Minister for Finance, Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet, said that the 240-room hotel would help to boost the state’s economy.
Image: Courtesy of the NSW Department of Finance, Services and Innovation
Sydney’s historic sandstone Department of Lands and Department of Education buildings on Bridge Street are set to be turned into a $300 million luxury hotel after the State Government approved 99-year leases to developer Pontiac Land Group.
Plans by the state government to either sell or issue long term leases for the site have attracted a great deal of controversy in recent years, with leading architects coming together last year to pitch the idea of using one of the buildings for a high school instead.
However, the Minister for Finance, Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet, said that the 240-room hotel would help to boost the state’s economy, contributing $185 million over the next 20 years.
“This flagship hotel is all about making smarter use of our property assets. Proceeds from the lease will be reinvested in infrastructure, and there will be substantial savings to NSW taxpayers on avoided maintenance,” he said.
Last year, the Sydney Morning Herald reported that architects including Gold Medal winners Richard Leplastrier and Peter Myers as well as Beverley Garlick, Swetik Korzeniewski, Philip Thalis and Paul Berkemeier co-signed a letter appealing directly to the premier and treasurer to keep the buildings for public use.
“Surely here is an unlikely to be repeated opportunity to make a very fine city-based school in a building that belongs to the citizens and is currently under the custodianship of the Department of Education,” the letter said. The group of architects had completed detailed plans showing how the Department of Education building could be converted into a school.
In 2013, the Australian Institute of Architects publicly expressed its concerns about the future of the two sites. The then-NSW chapter president Joe Agius described the buildings as “priceless.”
“The Department of Lands building is one of the grand public buildings that helps define Sydney as a ‘sandstone’ city, while the Department of Education building is one of the city’s most outstanding examples of Edwardian architecture,” he said, in an interview with Architecture & Design.
“Should the government insist on selling the buildings, the Institute strongly recommends it investigate a private sector leasing scheme that enables public access and contributes some public benefits.”
Both of the buildings are protected by NSW’s statutory heritage protection, meaning the luxury hotel conversion will need to significantly conserve them. Architect James Barnet designed the Department of Lands building, which was constructed between 1880–93, and architect George McRae designed the Department of Education building, which was completed in 1915.
Developer Pontiac Land Group declined to provide information about which architect is involved in the redevelopment project.
It is expected that the hotel will open in 2021 after the building is vacated by government personnel in 2018.
